In a strongly worded statement, Kao said that FAPA and 31 other Taiwanese-American organizations wrote to Ma last month about the renaming of the Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission (OCAC) and they had received “no adequate response.”

Kao said he was “deeply concerned” about the direction in which Ma was taking Taiwan, adding that Ma was pushing Taiwan into “unwelcome closer economic integration” with China.

Kao said that under Ma, Taiwan had experienced “an erosion of the judicial and democratic institutions.”

He said changing the name of the OCAC to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission without any consultation with the Legislative Yuan or overseas organizations was “stepping back into the dark days of Martial Law.”

Kao objected to inclusion of the word “Chinese” in the new name and said that an appropriate new name might be the Overseas Taiwanese Affairs Council.

By not responding to the original letter sent by the organizations, Kao said Ma had shown “disdain” for democracy.

“We urge the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan to let its voice be heard and make it clear to the Taiwan government that its actions are not in line with international democratic principles and practices,” he said.